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<Img
img="/uploads/Top_6_Push_Notification_Mistakes_and_How_to_Fix_Them_d2774b1b1c.jpg"
alt="Top 6 Web and Mobile Push Notification Mistakes and How to Fix Them"
/> 

In today’s competitive digital landscape, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to get consumers to click through marketing messages and engage with them. Push notifications represent a versatile marketing tool that can help you drive user traffic, stimulate engagement and boost user conversion and retention.

However, push notifications can only work for the benefit of your business when done right. Herein are common mistakes that marketing teams make when managing push notification campaigns and how to correct them.

## 1. Not Implementing User Segmentation

Appropriate audience segmentation is an essential component of any marketing activities, including push notification campaigns. Failing to assess, group, and segment your target audience means that you're unable to formulate tailored messages to appeal to consumers in unique stages of your sales funnel. Failing to segment your audience for tailored messages, especially for [**mobile push notifications**](mobile-marketing-101-push-notifications), leads to frequent subscriber opt-outs.

It’s imperative that you know your [**target audiences**](creating-a-customer-profile). Analyze and segment your audience into groups based on on-site actions (behavioral segmentation). These actions may include reading a blog, viewing a certain product, watching a video, or subscribing to a newsletter. Other types of segmentation include geographic, demographic, and social.

With push marketing technology, you can track custom data points far beyond automatic tracking. Utilize custom tracking and other tools, including metadata filters, aliases, and tags to engage segmented audiences with relevant push messages. Overall, analyze brand interactions and activity and align them with your push strategies.

## 2. Sending Generic Non-Personalized Messages

Sending generic push notifications indicative of a lack of customer research and consideration will result in low click-through rates and engagement. Consumers today want relevant, [**personalized marketing messages**](/features/personalization). It indicates that you understand their needs. It also saves users' time by catching their attention with actionable updates, information, or offers that are of interest.

Serve personalized recommendations based on specific user behavior (purchasing or browsing history), user purchasing stage, known preferences, and personal information. A good practice is to utilize placeholder tags. These tags enable you to replace placeholders with users' first names and relevant data for every push notification. With message tags, you can extract data from your data system and incorporate user-relevant information into the messages.

<Img
img="/uploads/personalized_mobile_push_4834dccfd9.png"
alt="personalized mobile push message"
/> 

## 3. Not Scheduling and Automating Push Notifications

Failing to schedule and automate your push notifications is a big mistake for marketing campaigns. With push notifications and any marketing communication channel, timing is a critical aspect. Even the best-designed push messages won't receive attention if you time them wrongly.

Ensure that you collect your subscriber/consumer profile. Utilize [**analytics data**](/features/analytics) to learn your users’ time zones, day-to-day activities, and when they are most active. Using this information to segment your audience. Doing so enables you to plan, schedule, and create automated push sequences using marketing automation software to send your messages at appropriate dates and times.

<Img
img="/uploads/right_timing_of_push_notifications_af7544bdbf.png"
alt="right timing of mobile push notifications"
src="Setting up push notification sending in Altcraft Platform"
/> 

## 4. Failing to Formulate a Clear Call-to-Action

The attention span of the average user is just a few seconds for any notifications they receive on their computers or mobile devices. Your push messages are likely to be discarded if your push notification does not include a clear CTA. Notification messages allow you to include a limited text, and you need to make the most of it. A clear CTA influences your audience to take a well-defined valuable action.

Utilize proven CTA phrases and words in your push messages and avoid jargon and filler words. You need to create a sense of urgency. Aim to avoid vague messages that your audience won’t know what to make of. Since you have limited text, it's good practice to include images that denote a clear CTA. Visuals catch the user’s eye and elicit better response rates.

<Img
img="/uploads/web_push_CTA_6825b58c69.png"
alt="CTA in push messages"
/> 

## 5. Choosing the Wrong Landing Pages

Where you are sending your customers is a crucial component of a push notification campaign. The landing page you direct your audience to must contain what you want them to see. Suppose you want to communicate to your customers about an attractive discount on a certain product category. You prepare the push message and activate your campaign. When your customers click on your CTA, they are directed to your homepage.

The above scenario clearly represents a subpar user experience since they can't locate your amazing offer that caught their attention. Consequently, you lose traffic, sales, or even subscribers. Ensure that you link the appropriate landing pages to your push messages. Your landing pages must have relevant information for a rich experience that boosts user retention.

## 6. Failing to Track Key Metrics

Much of web and mobile push notifications campaign success originates from hard-learned lessons. Not tracking [**key metrics**](top-digital-marketing-metrics) and optimizing appropriately equates to doing your campaign a great disservice. It’s crucial to closely monitor KPIs to determine deficiencies/gaps in your campaigns and inform future campaigns.

Clearly define the parameters necessary to benchmark campaign success to determine the effectiveness of your push notification strategies. Some of the top metrics you should use to measure campaign ROI include view rate, CTR, opt-in rate, retention rate, unsubscription rate, conversion rate, and website performance.

Utilize statistics regarding visits, clicks, interactions, and overall user engagement to formulate data-driven push notification strategies. Ensure that you conduct [**A/B testing**](/features/mvt) for different variables, including wording, personalization, visuals, and timing.

## Conclusion

Overall, web and mobile push notifications have become an effective marketing channel to engage your target audience. Providing the ability to reach your audience at a personal level, push notifications, especially when automated, serve as a direct communication path throughout their purchasing journey.

Getting relevant information, updates, offerings, and deals across to your customers at the right time via automated push messages is becoming ever-critical. Leveraging marketing automation software to bolster your push notification strategy enables you to save time/effort, gain new users, re-engage inactive users, boost conversions, facilitate continuous user engagement, get valuable feedback and retain clients.



Here is a list of common mistakes that marketing teams make when managing push notification campaigns and how to correct them.

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Top 6 Push Notification Mistakes and How to Fix Them.jpg

Push notifications are a marketing tool that can help you drive user traffic, stimulate engagement and boost user conversion. But they can only work for the benefit of your business when done right. 

Top 6 Push Notification Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Top 6 Web and Mobile Push Notification Mistakes and How to Fix Them

<Img
img="/uploads/An_In_Depth_Guide_on_Web_Push_Notifications_71f911b97c.jpg"
alt="An In-Depth Guide on Web Push Notifications"
/> 

In the current competitive business environment, most small, medium, and large businesses face challenges in creating engaging channels that provide customers with relevant information for more clicks. This explains why more than 70% of online shoppers don’t return to online stores. If you have been struggling too, take advantage of web push notifications.

## What are Web Push Notifications?

Generally, push notifications, which includes web push and mobile push notifications, are rich-text messages, just like SMS, sent to devices from third-party applications. They are a one-way form of communication sent to alert or inform your prospects and customers. That said, it is worth noting that web push notifications are different from mobile push notifications.
Just to mention, mobile push notifications in the phone come from mobile applications, such as a notification from Gmail about a new letter, while web push notifications are sent by sites through the user's browser, such as a desktop device or on a smartphone, and you do not need to install the application to receive these notifications.

However, while both types of push notifications can be received on a mobile device, only web push notifications can be received on the desktop.

## How web push notifications work

A web push notification refers to a message delivered to a user's device from your website. The message is delivered as soon as they start browsing your site, on desktop or mobile. This content format alerts the user of generous offers and features—and the notification appears immediately when a user opens your website.

To use a web push notification, you need a set up with a web push notification service provider, who will also handle all the technical aspects related to delivery, activation, and content moderation.

Once you activate web push notifications, your website visitors will be prompted to subscribe. All they are needed do is click allow on the "Allow Button." Once they are subscribed, you can schedule notifications for them.

<Gallery>
<GalleryItem
original="/uploads/aliexpress_push_a48f1e683d.png"
thumbnail="/uploads/aliexpress_push_a48f1e683d.png"
description="Request for permission to send notifications on AliExpress"
/>
<GalleryItem
original="/uploads/Screenshot_from_2021_10_07_16_12_20_6be88570cb.png"
thumbnail="/uploads/Screenshot_from_2021_10_07_16_12_20_6be88570cb.png"
description="Request for permission to send notifications on Altcraft website"
/>
</Gallery>

Push notification is triggered by external scripts that are triggered even if the web page is not being used at the moment. The user will be notified as soon as his mobile device or computer connects to the network.

## Pros of Web Push Notifications

Below are the reasons you should use web push notifications:

- They reach web visitors, whether they are on your site or not
- Hooks both web and mobile visitors
- No email addresses required
- They encourage and accelerate conversion actions
- Subscribers are loyal to this information because they agreed to receive it
- Messages are not covered by [**spam filters**](how-to-send-millions-of-emails-and-avoid-spam-filters)
- Easy to manage
- There are no fake contacts to deal with
- Best for companies without mobile apps
- Cons of Web Push Notifications
- Users must agree to opt-in ([**one-third of web users**](https://www.airship.com/resources/infographic/accengage-push-notification-in-app-message-benchmark-for-mobile-apps/) disable push notifications)
- Ignoring or opting out is easier
- Some people prefer ads or [**emails**](how-to-build-an-email-database)

## How to Use Web Push Notifications for Business

Like any other digital marketing strategies, the underlying use cases for web push notifications are majorly determined by business objectives. As such, markets and businesses across multiple industries, especially affiliates, eCommerce, banking, media, and travel, can leverage web push notifications to achieve their business objectives. Below are some ways that businesses can use web push notifications.

### Customer Engagement and Retention

Currently, marketers across all industries have understood the value of existing customers and thus focus on improving user engagement and customer retention. For instance:

**Ecommerce** businesses can send notifications with discounts and offers for high-level engagement. Trivial messages, such as welcome notifications, help build customer trust. They are also best for the cart abandonment response strategy. The same applies to flash sales, where businesses can send push notifications with the seasons' collections and new arrivals to spark customer interest.

**Banking and financial** service providers can encourage their prospects to visit their site by sending notifications about special discounts, [**bonus reward points**](customer-loyalty-program) that customers can redeem, and cashback opportunities.

**Entertainment industry** – usually, entertainment industry-related websites are either blogs, news channels, sports channels, which have their individual websites. You can send the users notifications and updates in the entertainment industry to attract visitors to your entertainment websites. For instance, you can:

- Send visitors news about the latest releases — an album, movie, or a book by a celebrity.
- Update your subscribers about the latest trailer release
- Track your subscriber’s activity and segment their interests to match their favorite celebs
- Send notifications and updates to your sports fans about the most awaited match, send live scores

<Img
img="/uploads/which_industries_use_web_push_notifications_8c9a05e25e.png"
alt="Which industries use web push notifications?"
/> 

### Content Marketing

Currently, more than [**91% of B2B businesses**](https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/2018-b2b-research-final.pdf) use content marketing to create awareness, guide buyers through their sales funnel, and aid decision-making. Digital marketers have increasingly turned to web push notifications to communicate to their clients with the main goal of building trust and driving leads. Businesses use push notifications for content marketing in the following ways:

- **Awareness-driven campaigns** – educating your clients about various aspects in your industry, such as how to use a product/service or defining complicated jargon, makes you an industry leader. Push notifications can simplify this.

<Img
img="/uploads/image_2021_10_07_16_04_02_38a87f964d.png"
alt="Web push notification about new blog article "
/>

- **Product/service updates** – you should inform your customers about new products or services and how these products suit their needs. Web push notifications can perfectly facilitate this.

Web push notifications can also be used for behavior-based communication, transactional updates, and product promotion.

## Web Push Notifications Best Practices

Push notifications are probably the best communication tools for various reasons. However, like any other digital marketing strategy, some tips improve its effectiveness. Below are tips for perfecting your web push notifications campaign:

- **Content**

Web push notifications allow businesses to broadcast information according to user behavior and interest. Therefore, you should ensure that these messages are tailored to suit the context. Consider all information available about the subject to [**personalize**](dynamic-content) these messages. Remember that there isn't much space to explain your message in detail. You are just prompting users to take a certain action.

Fortunately, [**rich push**](updates-rich-push-i-formy) functionality can ease this task. As the name suggests, rich push platform allows users to send push notifications with rich media statements. With rich push, you can create web push notifications for different browsers and operating systems. That aside, it allows users to send push notifications of several characters with images, audio, videos, and other interactive element attachments.  

<Img
img="/uploads/updates_rich_push_1918dff001.gif"
alt="Rich push editor"
src="Rich push editor in Altcraft Platform"
/> 

- **Timing**

Accurate timing of push notifications is crucial to maximizing customer engagement. Therefore, depending on text content, you can send notifications as a response to customer actions. Similarly, if you want to target dormant visitors, time the sending perfectly. Timing is especially important for brands with a worldwide audience.

As such, you should do a time zone check before sending out notifications. The time and day of the week matter. For instance, business and finance-related communications are best sent in the morning and at the beginning of the week. Gaming and entertainment perform better during the evenings and weekends. Fortunately, automation can help you plan and schedule these notifications in advance.

- **Distribution**

You should make sure that push notifications are delivered to the right audience. As such, you should have a clear understanding of your audience to run an effective push notifications campaign. Understanding your audience makes it easy to send finely targeted messages that are appropriate for specific scenarios. For instance, notifications sent to retain or lure old customers shouldn’t reach new customers who recently opted in. Newcomers should get a “welcome” message instead.

## Conclusion

Web push notifications are a precise online marketing tool. It provides a high level of precision when targeting specific users and groups. Besides, they are very visible and hard to ignore. Reaching your users on their phone or desktop, whether they are browsing your website or not, isn't an opportunity to overlook.

That said, you should consider using a third-party tool for your web push notifications. For this, consider using [**Altcraft Platform**](/en), an omnichannel marketing automation software. We provide businesses with multiple communication channels, including push notifications.

Web push notifications are contextual, timely, personalized messages featuring a quick-to-the-point alert or call to action. 

medium_An In-Depth Guide on Web Push Notifications.jpg

small_An In-Depth Guide on Web Push Notifications.jpg

thumbnail_An In-Depth Guide on Web Push Notifications.jpg

An In-Depth Guide on Web Push Notifications.jpg

Web push notifications are contextual, timely, personalized messages featuring a quick-to-the-point alert or call to action. Businesses use these messages to drive engagement back to the website.

An In-Depth Guide on Web Push Notifications

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